This website may contain affiliate links and advertising so that we can provide recipes to you. Read my disclosure policy.
Korean Ground Beef and Rice Bowls are so incredibly easy to make and will become a family favorite! This makes the perfect weeknight meal.
Such a simple meal with all the flavor! Try these different variations of Korean beef in these recipes: Korean Ground Beef Stir Fry or Slow Cooker Korean Beef.
Korean Ground Beef and Rice Bowls
This right here is my boys favorite weeknight meal. They beg me to make it every week. Since we have been so busy with Lacrosse we have been having it every week. It requires minimal ingredients and requires little effort to make.
Easy, minimal ingredients, and my kids devour it. This meal became my new BFF.
The ground beef takes only minutes to brown but you still get that delicious Korean flavor in this meal. The brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and ginger combination is the best.
It helps take the flavor to next level with the simple kitchen ingredients. The best part is that because we love Asian flavors so much I always have these ingredients on hand. All I have to do is buy a pound of ground beef each week.
You guys are going to love this meal just as much as we do! It is so delicious when served over rice and I even like to add some veggies to my bowl to make it a well rounded meal.
Sprinkle with some sesame seeds and freshly chopped green onions and you have about the easiest meal that you will ever make! You will make this again and again!
How do you make Korean Ground Beef and Rice Bowls?
- In a large skillet cook the ground beef and garlic breaking it into crumbles over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain the grease.
- In a small bowl whisk brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, red pepper flakes and pepper. Pour over the ground beef and let simmer for another minute or two.
- Serve over hot rice and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.
What temperature should ground beef be cooked to?
The interior of a raw hamburger usually does contain bacteria, and is safest if cooked well done.The USDA sets the minimum safe temperature for ground beef at 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
Can you make this with chicken?
Yes! This is a great chicken flavor as well. Sauté your chicken with all the ingredients. Cook until it is no longer pink.
What is the best rice to use?
- White rice
- Brown rice
- Jasmine rice
Looking for more simple ground beef recipes?! Here you go!
- Salsa Verde Beef and Mushroom Enchiladas
- Beefy Baked Tacos
- Beefy Enchilada Nachos
- Cheesy Baked Ziti
- Classic Baked Spaghetti
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It
Korean Ground Beef and Rice Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef 90% lean
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups hot cooked white or brown rice
- sliced green onions and sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- In a large skillet cook the ground beef and garlic breaking it into crumbles over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain the grease.
- In a small bowl whisk brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, red pepper flakes and pepper. Pour over the ground beef and let simmer for another minute or two.
- Serve over hot rice and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Great easy 15-minute recipe. I added some vegetables to it snap peas, carrot,s and broccoli.
Thank you for sharing
Radia
I found this recipe through a random search for “ground beef” and “lunch”. It was a huge hit with the kids so we’ll probably have to scale up the recipe next time. Shockingly simple and fast. I was worried that the ground beef texture and look might be less appealing but I think one’s eyes are drawn to the onions and sesame seeds. There’s plenty of chew and the girls tried to wrap it all up in seaweed!
My family devoured this – and they are “foodies”. I make a lot of stir fry type dishes (it’s my speciality) and I did make a few adjustments to this:
I added about 1 1/2 cups fresh green beans cut in half (it’s what I had on hand), a whole diced red pepper and half an onion in with the ground beef when it was cooking (I didn’t have any green onion, if I did I would have added that as well). The beautiful thing about a dish like this is you can just use what you have on hand as far as veggies go. I did not drain the fat.
When I added the garlic I also added fresh minced ginger instead of what the recipe called for (because I had it on hand) – and I was heavy on both the garlic and ginger.
I didn’t have any sesame oil, so instead I used something new that the NYT featured in an article at the beginning of the pandemic – it sold out but was worth the wait. I added 1/2 tsp of 50 Hertz Foods Green Sichuan Pepper Oil. When I get some sesame oil again, I’ll add a dash of that back in and try that too.
I garnished with sesame seeds and shredded carrots for added color and interest. Served with garlic chili sauce so that those that wanted a little heat could add some.
It was awesome to have a stir fry type recipe with ground beef. That was new for me. I will make this again and would like to try it with ground pork too. I think it would be really good with some shredded cabbage as a garnish too. I will probably increase the sauce by half because my kids started adding teriyaki.
This is an excellent, versatile base recipe that I believe would be fantastic to make as-is and is also really flexible to add in what you already have and make adjustments according to your tastes.
Looking for something different to make with ground beef, and this was perfect! I love Mongolian beef dishes when we eat out, and this sauce reminded me of it. I did cut the red pepper flakes in half because of picky eaters and still turned out great. Next time, if I think ahead haha, I will add broccoli and/or green onion. And, in think this would be good with flank steak, too! So good, thanks!
Sooo good, I tried to keep it true to the recipe hower I did not have sesame oil so tossed some sesame seeds in the pan with the ground beef and subbed vegetable oil. Most excellent and simple dish!
We make this recipe at least twice a month. Everyone in the family enjoys, and I appreciate how quickly it comes together. Question about the nutritional details, does that include the rice? Thanks!
I make this often, it’s delicious. Sometimes I add a bag of coleslaw mix. I’ve also used the rice vermicelli noodles instead of rice. I cook thrm.separately, cut them short and mix thrm right into the meat mixture.
This is also delicious topped with a fried egg!
Sooo good! I thinly sliced an onion and sautéed it with the ground beef, added half a head of chopped cabbage, and then doubled the sauce. My husband told me it needs to be a weekly meal and the kids cleaned their bowls without protest. Easy and sooooo good!
A hit in my household. So easy to make. I halved the brown sugar, but left everything else the same. We make this regularly.
Love this recipe! I always double the sauce and add a veggie. The kids love it too!!
Oh. My. Goodness!!! What a great recipe! I did double the sauce because we like a bit of liquid with the meat mixture. I wouldn’t hesitate to triple it next time because the leftovers today were a bit dry. Then I might thicken it slightly.
This recipe has unlimited potential to be as simple as you wish (no extra veggies) or it can be different every time you make it based on what veggies you might add.
We added sautéed broccoli, cabbage, frozen peas, carrots, almonds, fresh mushrooms, red pepper, celery, onion and fresh spinach.
I also cut the red pepper flakes and the ginger to 1/8 t each.
This will definitely become a regular in our home! Thanks so much!
I’m in the process of making this now. But no direction of to drain grease or is it part of the sauce.
I recommend draining grease from the meat if there is a lot.
I add 1/2 a cup each of diced and sautéed onions, carrots, mushrooms, peppers, and spinach and then serve it in lettuce cups. The sauce is so good and it’s one of our favorites!
Wow! So good! So easy and fast! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Great recipe!! I used paprika and white pepper instead of the chili flakes and black pepper.
Alyssa, I can’t wait to try this recipe. Being Keto I will serve this over something other than rice. My question is do the nutritional values include the rice or are the values just for the meat?
This is including the rice.
Made it tonight for dinner with a few variations -used freshly grated ginger and added leeks in the saute with the ground beef.
Overall, we thought it was too sweet.
Will try it again, cutting the sugar in half, and incressing the red pepper flakes.
Ok well my VERY picky family is all freaking out about this so WINNER WINNER!!
This was so easy to make and so good! I used a vegan ground beef instead of regular beef and it still worked so well. I’ll definitely be making this often.
This was so delicious I threw in a bag of mixed vegetables after the hamburger was done and another batch of the sauce mixture let it simmer covered stirring occasionally until vegetables were done it came out great so flavorful will definitely be making this again